Blitzkrieg and the Russian art of war
By Andrew Monaghan
Book Information
- Format: eBook
- ISBN: 978-1-5261-6450-6
- Published Date: May 2025
- Series: Russian Strategy and Power
Description
Russian strategy today is often framed in terms of 'hybridity', an approach characterised by interference in domestic politics through cyber warfare and disinformation campaigns. Such asymmetric measures are seen as part of a shift away from armed violence towards political subversion and other non-military tools.
Moving beyond the concept of hybridity, this book looks more broadly at Russian thinking about warfare. Drawing directly on Russian sources, it reflects on a series of questions that are generally overlooked in the existing Euro-Atlantic literature about Russia, notably: what is the military leadership's distinctive idea of twenty-first-century blitzkrieg? How does it understand holistic territorial defence? And how does it manage the shifting balance between the offensive and defensive?
Exploring key concepts and terms used in Russian military thinking and action, Blitzkrieg and the art of Russian war contributes to an active and lively debate about Russia's resurgent role in international affairs and the challenge the country poses to the international order.
Contents
Introduction: Blitzkrieg and the Russian Military
1: Lightening War and Deep Operations
2: Barbarossa and its Consequences
3: War in a Time of Military-Technical Revolution
4: Buffeted by Desert Storms
5: Facing 21st Century Blitzkrieg
Conclusions: The Competition for (New) Spaces
Further Reading
Acknowledgements
Index
Author
Andrew Monaghan is Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London